SUBSTRING

Question

In the select query how to search for a particular part of data. (in ABAP code)
Table         : ABC
Field name    : Category
Field content : Enterprise.
Query : Select * from ABC where substr(category,1,3) ='Ent'.
[The query should check the complete table ABC and list all the category where the first three characters are = 'Ent']

Answer 1

Hi,
Query : Select * from ABC where category like '%Ent%'.
More info about LIKE in the SAP documentation:
f [NOT] LIKE g
Addition:
... ESCAPE h
Effect
The condition is met for a table entry if the statement "f (does not) equal the pattern in g" is true for the values of f and g. f must always be a field descriptor, and g an ABAP field or an ABAP string. If f has the value NULL, then the result of the check for the statement is unknown. Within a pattern, there are two special characters:
'_' (underscore) stands for any single character.
'%' (percentage sign) stands for any sequence of characters, including an empty string.
Examples
Example to select all customers whose name begins with 'M':
DATA SCUSTOM_WA TYPE SCUSTOM.
SELECT ID NAME FROM SCUSTOM
       INTO CORRESPONDING FIELDS OF SCUSTOM_WA
       WHERE NAME LIKE 'M%'.
  WRITE: / SCUSTOM_WA-ID, SCUSTOM_WA-NAME.
ENDSELECT.
Example to select all customers whose name contains 'huber':
DATA SCUSTOM_WA TYPE SCUSTOM.
SELECT ID NAME FROM SCUSTOM
       INTO CORRESPONDING FIELDS OF SCUSTOM_WA
       WHERE NAME LIKE '%huber%'.
  WRITE: / SCUSTOM_WA-ID, SCUSTOM_WA-NAME.
ENDSELECT.
Example to select all customers whose name does not contain 'n' as the second character:
DATA SCUSTOM_WA TYPE SCUSTOM.
SELECT ID NAME FROM SCUSTOM
       INTO CORRESPONDING FIELDS OF SCUSTOM_WA
       WHERE NAME NOT LIKE '_n%'.
  WRITE: / SCUSTOM_WA-ID, SCUSTOM_WA-NAME.
ENDSELECT.
Notes
LIKE can only be used for alphanumeric database fields. In other words, table field f must have Dictionary type ACCP, CHAR, CLNT, CUKY, LCHR, NUMC, UNIT, VARC, TIMS or DATS. The comparison field g must always have type C.
The maximum length of the pattern is 2n - 1 characters, where n is the length of field f.
Trailing spaces are ignored in comparison field g. If a pattern contains trailing spaces, you must enclose it in single inverted commas ('). If your pattern is enclosed in inverted commas and you also want to include inverted commas as part of the pattern, the inverted commas in the pattern must be doubled.
You cannot use this variant in the ON addition to the FROM clause.
Thanks,
Ramakrishna